The Uchiha Clan would certainly be thrilled at that point, having a grand laugh at the Senju’s expense.
So, your Senju Clan isn’t all that high and mighty, are they?
Look, your little family princess has been snatched up by one of our Uchiha.
Tsk, tsk, they really are going downhill with each passing generation.
One can only imagine how the Senju Clan would react.
Even if the Uchiha continued to shield Uchiha Hiko, his life wouldn’t be easy; he might even face all sorts of targeted harassment or even various assassination attempts!
Don’t be fooled by the surface-level peace of the village.
Once you lack the power to protect yourself and have offended major clans like the Senju and Uchiha, you will meet a miserable end.
While in the village, they might mind the optics and refrain from doing anything to you, but will you stay in the village forever?
Once you leave the village, that is your death sentence!
“Tsunade…
Hmph, how interesting.
If you want to use me, Uchiha Hiko, as your pawn, you’ll have to pay a price first.
Two Ninjutsu Scrolls—how stingy.” Sneering in his heart, Hiko brushed the matter aside.
Regardless of her hints, Hiko only cared about taking the benefits, while maintaining a distance from Tsunade that was neither too close nor too far.
If the clan asked, Hiko could always use the excuse that Tsunade was difficult to deal with and he was still working on it.
Fortunately, no one would expect such a thing to be accomplished in a day or two; the stubborn old guys of the Uchiha Clan could afford to wait.
Just wait until I possess absolute strength; I’ll show you all!
Eating, bathing, and refining Chakra—the amount of Chakra in Hiko’s body grew day by day.
As the intensity of his training increased, his progress was massive, though it was easy to end up exhausted and covered in injuries.
The miraculous part was that every time he woke up, all the negative side effects from the training would vanish.
This could be considered one of Hiko’s strengths, or more accurately, the strength of the God-tier Evolution Potion.
“Great Elder…
this matter, I will pay you back sooner or later!” Early in the morning, Hiko looked at himself in the mirror, the pair of Sharingan particularly striking.
Except for when he was in his own little den, Hiko never used the Sharingan.
He silently pushed himself to grow stronger; he needed time and a chance to soar.
The Uchiha could provide that chance, but he couldn’t rely on them—using him to get at the Senju Clan was truly a calculated move.
Besides the Uchiha, there was also the highest authority in this Konoha!
However, it was not easy to attract the other party’s attention without appearing too conspicuous.
Moreover, the Third Hokage’s regard was merely a small guarantee, a platform for takeoff; there were countless difficulties in between, waiting for him, Uchiha Hiko, to overcome.
Packing his breakfast—and, of course, Tsunade’s meat pie—Hiko grabbed his school bag and left home, heading toward the Ninja Academy.
As for the so-called rewards, it would be a waste not to take them; Ninjutsu was one of the things Hiko currently lacked most.
As for waiting until he graduated and performed missions to trade Contribution Points for Ninjutsu Scrolls, who knew how long that would take.
He wondered if his current Chakra was enough to release a Ninjutsu…
Hiko became distracted once again.
Without a teacher’s guidance, he was a complete blank slate in this regard.
He would only know the result after he got his hands on the scrolls and tried it out.
Absent-mindedly zoning out seemed to have become something Hiko enjoyed doing.
Without realizing it, Hiko arrived at the school.
Because he had been zoning out, his pace was slow, and by the time he reached the classroom, most of the other students had already arrived.
Although they were classmates, Hiko had never paid any attention to anyone other than Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, treating the rest as total strangers.
“Aha~~~~” Tsunade was slumped over her desk, dozing off while waiting for Hiko’s meat pie.
She had intentionally slept in a little longer today, and fortunately, Hiko had not disappointed her.
Tsunade didn’t stand on ceremony, picking up the meat pie and munching on it as if everything were a matter of course.
There was no real conversation between the two.
Nom, nom.
The sound of eating meat pie echoed through the classroom, and the aroma drifted out, making many people widen their eyes in curiosity, wondering where Hiko had bought the pie, as they had never seen it before!
Jiraiya, in particular, sat right in front and stared at the meat pie in Tsunade’s hand, practically drooling.
Perhaps out of embarrassment, or perhaps out of fear of Tsunade’s temper, he constantly forced himself to look away.
That expression of sheer, agonizing restraint nearly made Hiko burst out laughing—was it really worth all that trouble just for a meat pie?
Mmm~~~ delicious, so delicious!
Tsunade didn’t stand on ceremony with Hiko because, in her heart, he could at least be considered a friend for now.
It wasn’t that she had fallen for him at first sight, or some twisted love-hate dynamic; that would be ridiculous.
Besides, at five years old, if you didn’t find someone annoying and felt a bit of affinity toward them, they were a friend—it was that simple.
Unlike adults, they didn’t have all those complicated hidden agendas.
“Tsk~~ slow down, no one is going to steal it from you.” Watching Tsunade, who had been yawning a second ago and was now full of energy, especially the crumbs stuck to the corner of her mouth, Hiko didn’t know if it was his OCD acting up, but he subconsciously raised his hand and gently wiped them away.
It was a very ordinary gesture, but with all the chaotic rumors spreading like wildfire in the outside world, the problem had just become much larger.